


winter mornings

by blifuys



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Character Study, Minor Spoilers for Blue Lions if you really squint, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22014874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blifuys/pseuds/blifuys
Summary: It’s another day today.The light breaks past the thick curtains, drawn across the glass panels of the window, which he knows is probably collecting icicles in all shapes and sizes at the top as he lays in the warmth of his bed.
Kudos: 7





	winter mornings

**Author's Note:**

> iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii was supposed to write a certain thing but guess who digressed 
> 
> _me, again_
> 
> before i go and kick my own ass, here's a dima character study because i wanted to try my hand at him!

It’s another day today.

The light breaks past the thick curtains, drawn across the glass panels of the window, which he knows is probably collecting icicles in all shapes and sizes at the top as he lays in the warmth of his bed.

The ceiling stares back at him from where he’s laying, darkened from the lack of light coming in. He knows that it’s probably late, seeing how the sun’s already high enough in the sky for the birds outside to twitter, and the sound of the palace staff coming and going by in their silent path—hurrying past the blues-and-whites of the hallways towering above their heads, no time to slow down to care about the intricacies of the carpets and curtains and blinds and their gold embellishments.

There is no time for them to slow down. The ever-present chill in the palace keeps them going, rushing for time as they complete their list of duties to the King and his cabinet, to the elites that keep the country running. In their own way, Dimitri thinks that these are the heroes. The heroes that, above all their own individual struggles and pain, set aside it all to protect Faerghus and Fhirdiad, devote their best to the Kingdom and the people.

From the frigid snowy hills and powered, well-treaded pathways of Gautier to the gentle breezes of Gaspard caressing its towering trees and rushing rivers, the good people of Faerghus fight every day for him. For a new coming of the Kingdom. For the simultaneous end and start of history as they know it.

And often, he wonders, if he’s just _that_ deserving of the fight that his people give up for him.

He’s too tired to decipher who’s sitting in the corner of his room today. He seems them, he hears them, he is actively trying to ignore them, for the sake of his country. For the sake of his people.

For the sake of himself.

There are countless people in his life, dead or living, who taught him how to deal with things. He may never reach a day where he never sees a single apparition ever again, but the support helps. The pillars that keep him standing helps, and it is in their smiles and trust that he finds the drive to carry on—even if he cannot seek it in himself sometimes.

“Don’t get complacent,” The figure spits at him from across the room. They’re sitting next to the ornate study table he has set in his room, for the nights that he needs to stay up but Dedue or Ingrid’s rushed him back into his room at the insistence he gets some darn rest. “One day this will come crashing. All of it will come crashing, and it’ll be your fault.”

He can’t tell who this is today. The figure stares at him with a blank face as its heavy voice fills with venom, malicious intent drenched in every word and syllable they annunciate. Their hair cascades in waves, matching Fraldarius black—but their eyes are like his, gleaming sky blue while they bear straight down to the depths of his soul, so very similar to a King once passed to tragedy.

But he’s learned. He’s come a long way. For every time he trips, a hand gently coaxes him out again from his mind, and he walks down that snowy path towards relief, towards silence in his mind and greatness for the United Kingdom of Faerghus.

For now, there is nothing else but contentment and determination that resides inside of him.

“I know,” Dimitri replies as he feels his lips curl into a smile. “And that’s why I carry on.”

In ten counts, he rises from his slumber. In twenty, his feet brush against the plush luxury of the Blaidydd blue carpet sprawled under his bed, gold lions and leaves weaved into the fabric. It’s a little colder today, and he thinks about firewood and food distribution plans laying on his desk in his office. He thinks about a pot of chamomile tea, and he thinks of inviting Dedue in for tea today. Maybe he’ll ask Ashe to come for a visit soon.

In a hundred, he’s brushing his hair back and twisting it into a pattern that someone far-east once taught him, as the small plait lays at his nape—proper enough for him to work without his hair in his eyes, casual enough for his simple tastes. It must be warmer in Almyra. He thinks about scratching down a correspondence east-bound, and hopes a certain ruling monarch is eating well.

In a thousand, he opens the door and steps out into the golden light basking the hallways of the West Wing, and he becomes another moving body in Castle Fhirdiad’s walls. Orange hair and giggles pass his mind, and he thinks about making a visit to the Royal School of Sorcery. Perhaps, he’d head to Garreg Mach once he leaves, if only to ask the Archbishop for a sparring session. It’s been a while, after all.

In a thousand and one, Dimitri turns left, towards his office. There is a meeting today with Margrave Gautier and Duke Fraldarius, and after conference he might just invite them out on a ride through the mountains. He knows that a sedentary lifestyle isn’t suited for the heads of Faerghus’s Northern territories, and it’s always nice to spend time with childhood friends—just as he always has.

It’s another day today, and he is King once more.

**Author's Note:**

> [come say hi!](https://twitter.com/nekohmy)


End file.
